I've been having a lot of problems with late shipments from Amazon lately. I've been a Prime member for a while now, and all but a few items I've ordered have arrived on time. Even this Christmas, I got all but one item on time. However, things have fallen apart since then. Of the last five items I've ordered, four have been late. Has anyone else experienced this or have suggestions on how I should ask Amazon to compensate me for this terrible service?

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"Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip? To get to the same side." - The Big Bang Theory

I've been having a lot of problems with late shipments from Amazon lately. I've been a Prime member for a while now, and all but a few items I've ordered have arrived on time. Even this Christmas, I got all but one item on time. However, things have fallen apart since then. Of the last five items I've ordered, four have been late. Has anyone else experienced this or have suggestions on how I should ask Amazon to compensate me for this terrible service?

Who is delivery company? I was having issues with the local delivery company that Amazon had contracted with for same day delivery and refuse to use same day delivery cause of my bad experiences

I've been having a lot of problems with late shipments from Amazon lately. I've been a Prime member for a while now, and all but a few items I've ordered have arrived on time. Even this Christmas, I got all but one item on time. However, things have fallen apart since then. Of the last five items I've ordered, four have been late. Has anyone else experienced this or have suggestions on how I should ask Amazon to compensate me for this terrible service?

Contact them to complain. At the very least, they should know about it. But it may result in a discount on a future purchase, too.

This does happen from time to time (never 5 in a row, though!). You do have to read all the details on the item page, because sometimes it'll say Prime, but also indicate that it won't ship right away. I imagine post-Christmas restocks are partly to blame.

None the less, it shouldn't be happening that frequently. Let them know.

I always hear about people having issues with Amazon, but I've never had a single issue with them in all the years I've done business with them. They're pretty amazing in my opinion. In fact, I ordered something right before Christmas and it came a day earlier than I thought it would. I'm also a Prime member.

The opposite actually, some of my 2 day shipments have been arriving in one day lately. Is it Amazon delaying shipping, or the shippers taking longer than they should? When I lived in FL they would sometimes use a place called Lazer, that sucked. Also FedEx will sometimes ignore their suggested delivery, but UPS and USPS shipments have been perfect.

My shipments have all been timely as well. Sometimes I get lucky and get things the next day. Last month I ordered something at 4pm and I had it the next day, I was impressed. Of course it helps that Amazon has a Pittsburgh hub that is about an hour from where I live.

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" And they are a strong and frightening force, impervious to, and immunized against, the feeble lance of mere reason." Isaac Asimov

I always hear about people having issues with Amazon, but I've never had a single issue with them in all the years I've done business with them. They're pretty amazing in my opinion. In fact, I ordered something right before Christmas and it came a day earlier than I thought it would. I'm also a Prime member.

I've had some odd tracking and a package that never got any tracking details sent out, but still managed to arrive in two days. I'd contact them and let them know that shipping is slower than expected. They do in fact want this kind of feedback.

I order a ton of stuff from Amazon and the vast majority of stuff arrives on time as expected. Amazon uses a bewildering array of delivery options though, so if there are problems, take a look at your order history to see if there are specific delivery options that are failing to deliver on time. Also, keep in mind that during the holiday season, UPS and I believe the US postal service, had issues keeping up with the volume of package deliveries. In my experience Amazon uses these options:

1. UPS - seems to be the most common. For me, has been pretty much 100% reliable.2. Smartpost (FedEx and UPS) - this is where FedEx or UPS will deliver to the nearest US Post Office to you and the USPS makes the local delivery. If anything goes wrong, it is usually because the USPS delays/loses the package.3. Local regional delivery vendor - In the SF Bay Area where I live, the local vendor is Ontrac. It's like a courier service. I occasionally get packages late from these guys. It's possible consistent delivery issues may be due to these local delivery companies. Reliability will vary from region to region depending on the local delivery company.4. US Postal Service - occasionally, I'll get orders delivered end to end by the USPS. Usually small items like video games or movies. Very occasionally will get delayed a day or two. 5. DHL - Every once in a blue moon, Amazon ships something to me via DHL. I have no idea why but it happens maybe once or twice a year. Usually reliable, but it's a small sample size.

Overall, Amazon Prime has been excellent in my experience, but I live in a major city with lots of nearby delivery stations and hubs so I'm sure it's not quite as reliable as living out in more sparsely populated areas where there are not as much infrastructure.

This has been a pretty rough winter, perhaps that is the issue? I had a couple of packages from amazon this week that were delayed due to weather. Outside of that, Amazon has always been on time for me.

...2. Smartpost (FedEx and UPS) - this is where FedEx or UPS will deliver to the nearest US Post Office to you and the USPS makes the local delivery. If anything goes wrong, it is usually because the USPS delays/loses the package....4. US Postal Service - occasionally, I'll get orders delivered end to end by the USPS. Usually small items like video games or movies. Very occasionally will get delayed a day or two.

I usually despise anything to with USPS (having worked for them indirectly I know how they work and their flaws), but I have been very impressed with them lately. Amazon has been using them for 2 day air on small stuff and everything has been on time. Now Smartpost? Not sure why this is so hard, but that seems to delay everything for a couple of days where it disappears from tracking. Luckily Amazon has never used it in my case.

Thanks for the feedback. The problem seems to be when Amazon transfers the items to my local post office, as it takes two days for items to get from UPS to USPS to me, even after they arrive at my local post office. However, the tracking page says that the sender requested that this happen, so I still blame Amazon. It's ultimately their responsibility to get me my package on time, and that includes not using shipping methods that won't allow that to happen.

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I always hear about people having issues with Amazon, but I've never had a single issue with them in all the years I've done business with them. They're pretty amazing in my opinion. In fact, I ordered something right before Christmas and it came a day earlier than I thought it would. I'm also a Prime member.

I'd been singing their praises up to this point, too, and it's just this past few weeks when the service has gone rapidly downhill. I can understand this happening around Christmas time, but it was after Christmas that the problem really started. I'm hoping this is just a bump in the road, but I have a bad feeling that it's not.

« Last Edit: January 08, 2014, 07:55:54 PM by EddieA »

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"Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip? To get to the same side." - The Big Bang Theory

Thanks for the feedback. The problem seems to be when Amazon transfers the items to my local post office, as it takes two days for items to get from UPS to USPS to me, even after they arrive at my local post office. However, the tracking page says that the sender requested that this happen, so I still blame Amazon. It's ultimately their responsibility to get me my package on time, and that includes not using shipping methods that won't allow that to happen.

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I always hear about people having issues with Amazon, but I've never had a single issue with them in all the years I've done business with them. They're pretty amazing in my opinion. In fact, I ordered something right before Christmas and it came a day earlier than I thought it would. I'm also a Prime member.

I'd been singing their praises up to this point, too, and it's just this past few weeks when the service has gone rapidly downhill. I can understand this happening around Christmas time, but it was after Christmas that the problem really started. I'm hoping this is just a bump in the road, but I have a bad feeling that it's not.

I think I have only had a few items go the UPS > USPS route and yeah that method sucks. Ive never had any major item go that way usually its small stuff and not a big deal to me if its a few days off. I definitely think you should lodge a complaint to Amazon though, it may help them improve their delivery choices. Im thinking that it saves them money and if no one bitches they are cool with it, which is understandable from a business stand point. Unless people start complaining, they are probably not going to make any changes. Thanks for pointing this out, Im going to keep my eye on my next few 2 day deliveries and see how they are shipped. If I see an issue, I will file a complaint as well. Because now "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Like some others here, I order tons of stuff from Amazon and rarely have had issues. But I also live in an area where I think there are quite a few delivery hubs.

I have also noticed Amazon has started using USPS more lately, which certainly is a concern for me. I hate to bad mouth the USPS, but I have had some absolutely horrible service from them in the past at my current address. Getting other neighbors' mail regularly, getting my own mail lost, late deliveries, ignored posts to leave packages, and the best was when they totally stopped delivering my mail for a week or two with no explanation. Needed multiple calls and trips to the local office to finally get the mail delivered again.

My recent mailman seems pretty good, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. But anyway the point being that in my experience the USPS does whatever the heck they want, and acts like you should just be thankful to bend over and take whatever they decide to shove up your ass. No bitterness here though So while I agree it's Amazon's responsibility, I also think they have limited ability to influence the USPS. I'm actually quite curious why they started using them more now, is it significantly cheaper for them?

I have also noticed Amazon has started using USPS more lately, which certainly is a concern for me. I hate to bad mouth the USPS, but I have had some absolutely horrible service from them in the past at my current address. Getting other neighbors' mail regularly, getting my own mail lost, late deliveries, ignored posts to leave packages,

This has happened by me recently. more USPS deliveries than normal. some minor issues/delays, but I have had only one major issue so far though.. Had a package listed as undeliverable for a non-existent address and was being returned to sender. Had to shoot an email off to USPS and was pleasantly surprised when I received a reply the same day! Seems that they loaded the package onto the wrong postman's truck and since he didn't recognize the address, he marked it as wrong. The person who replied had it fixed and delivered the next day. I was really worried at first, thinking that by the time I had a reply, it would have already been sent back, but it worked out!

Just so you know how Amazon Prime works via the USPS. Amazon ships to the individual stations, Amazon Prime parcels already shrinkwrapped onto a skid. These packages have a higher priority than any other packages we handle. They are sorted to the carrier routes at the station before any other packages. The station manager will hold the carriers at the station if a late truck is coming up with AP packages. They go out the same day that they are received. UPS smartpost is dropped off at the bulk mail center to be sorted and we also have UPS drivers dropping off parcels to be delivered at the individual station. Smartpost sucks because they intentionally place their internal tracking stickers over the address and delivery confirmation number. I then have to very carefully peal the sticker off or the address and tracking become unreadable. Most delays and delivery failures are due to that.

Like some others here, I order tons of stuff from Amazon and rarely have had issues. But I also live in an area where I think there are quite a few delivery hubs.

I have also noticed Amazon has started using USPS more lately, which certainly is a concern for me. I hate to bad mouth the USPS, but I have had some absolutely horrible service from them in the past at my current address. Getting other neighbors' mail regularly, getting my own mail lost, late deliveries, ignored posts to leave packages, and the best was when they totally stopped delivering my mail for a week or two with no explanation. Needed multiple calls and trips to the local office to finally get the mail delivered again.

My recent mailman seems pretty good, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. But anyway the point being that in my experience the USPS does whatever the heck they want, and acts like you should just be thankful to bend over and take whatever they decide to shove up your ass. No bitterness here though So while I agree it's Amazon's responsibility, I also think they have limited ability to influence the USPS. I'm actually quite curious why they started using them more now, is it significantly cheaper for them?

Hard to know what the issues are but it sounds like you had an open route, i.e. no carrier assigned to it.Getting other people's mail, getting your mail lost and late deliveries are all signs that the route was being carried by a CCA or as overtime by a regular. Late deliveries are an indication that the route is definitely going out as overtime and is being delivered after the carrier finishes his regular route. Why don't they get it to you earlier? Because it's cheaper to pay people overtime than to hire people. As for the non-deliveries- are you a house or an apartment dweller? Do you have a place to leave the mail or parcels? Were they items of obvious value(tvs, computers, etc)? Did they require a signature? If you have a mailbox, do you pick up the mail every day or do you let it build up? If I deliver an apartment building and the mail builds up over the course of the week, that's 95% of the time somebody that skipped out on the rent.(IMHE, of course) In that case, you bring the mail back and hold it for ten days, waiting for a change of address.

Not trying to be snotty, just trying to troubleshoot the issue without any first hand knowledge.

And two reasons why Amazon uses the USPS, a: we are cheaper and b: we have a greater capacity than UPS does by far.

And two reasons why Amazon uses the USPS, a: we are cheaper and b: we have a greater capacity than UPS does by far.

But a lot less reliable and slower. Granted I worked on the military side of things, but I lost a lot of fiath with USPS while doing so. At least all UPS shipments include decent tracking and insurance while USPS does not. I had to deal with numerous customers daily who never received their packages but since the sender neglected tracking/insurance there was nothing we could do.

And two reasons why Amazon uses the USPS, a: we are cheaper and b: we have a greater capacity than UPS does by far.

But a lot less reliable and slower. Granted I worked on the military side of things, but I lost a lot of fiath with USPS while doing so. At least all UPS shipments include decent tracking and insurance while USPS does not. I had to deal with numerous customers daily who never received their packages but since the sender neglected tracking/insurance there was nothing we could do.

Ok, that explains a lot. You were on the military side, not the actual USPS. Overseas? That's a nother kettle of fish. Were there more losses shipping to the soldiers or from the soldiers? FWIW, I'm not happy about the tracking system myself. There is a definite gap between postal facilities, when it is in the hands of the contractors and the airlines. About the insurance... We do offer insurance, but if the customer don't want to pay for it, that's on them. I don't see how you can blame the PO for the customer's lack of foresight.

Yes military overseas, but it is still USPS. Their rules, equipment and shipping. Even if you ignore that the shipping side is extended beyond what domestic is, their tracking is bad, insurance isn't included, and people don't understand it due to overly complicated policies. I ship UPS and insurance and tracking is included automatically. Not so with USPS, and people expect that now, even when they order from a company who doesn't want to pay the extra for those services and then tells the customer they are out of luck because they have no way of telling where their product is in the end. USPS is getting better, but they have a long way to go.

I'm curious as to how the mail is transported. Is it handed off to MATS? Does it go through the local po? As far as the lack of insurance, we offer that option for the cheapskate. Again, why should we be dunned because the customer chooses that option? It is always offered at the retail b&m level, whether it's at a station or one of those mailbox stores. If you don't understand the phrase, "Would you like tracking or insurance" and English is your only language, I don't know how to help you.

Not sure what MATS is. Everything goes to one of the regional hubs (SFO etc) then went commercial or on military flights to the military hubs. We used USPS tracking systems for all of it but admittedly we seemed to behind the curve on having the newest and best equipment.

I'm curious as to how the mail is transported. Is it handed off to MATS? Does it go through the local po? As far as the lack of insurance, we offer that option for the cheapskate. Again, why should we be dunned because the customer chooses that option? It is always offered at the retail b&m level, whether it's at a station or one of those mailbox stores. If you don't understand the phrase, "Would you like tracking or insurance" and English is your only language, I don't know how to help you.

I dealt a lot with people ordering stuff through a company, the company shipping it as cheaply as possible, and the package never making it to our post office. My customer is pissed because they can't track it and company says tough luck, we shipped it. Granted places like Amazon will fix the problem, but I found out a lot of companies don't live up to Amazon's customer service (Eastbay). So I was left trying to explain to a customer who is mad that there is nothing I could do for them and they go away pissed off that their package is lost.

I think USPS needs to include tracking automatically, as the big commercial shipping companies do. They also need to unify the services that often just confuse the customer (delivery confirmation, insurances, certified, etc). Finally tracking needs to work a lot better, this may be where the military is messing up, but when trying to track stuff down, I often couldn't. Places wouldn't scan and the package would just disappear.

Like some others here, I order tons of stuff from Amazon and rarely have had issues. But I also live in an area where I think there are quite a few delivery hubs.

I have also noticed Amazon has started using USPS more lately, which certainly is a concern for me. I hate to bad mouth the USPS, but I have had some absolutely horrible service from them in the past at my current address. Getting other neighbors' mail regularly, getting my own mail lost, late deliveries, ignored posts to leave packages, and the best was when they totally stopped delivering my mail for a week or two with no explanation. Needed multiple calls and trips to the local office to finally get the mail delivered again.

My recent mailman seems pretty good, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. But anyway the point being that in my experience the USPS does whatever the heck they want, and acts like you should just be thankful to bend over and take whatever they decide to shove up your ass. No bitterness here though So while I agree it's Amazon's responsibility, I also think they have limited ability to influence the USPS. I'm actually quite curious why they started using them more now, is it significantly cheaper for them?

Hard to know what the issues are but it sounds like you had an open route, i.e. no carrier assigned to it.Getting other people's mail, getting your mail lost and late deliveries are all signs that the route was being carried by a CCA or as overtime by a regular. Late deliveries are an indication that the route is definitely going out as overtime and is being delivered after the carrier finishes his regular route. Why don't they get it to you earlier? Because it's cheaper to pay people overtime than to hire people. As for the non-deliveries- are you a house or an apartment dweller? Do you have a place to leave the mail or parcels? Were they items of obvious value(tvs, computers, etc)? Did they require a signature? If you have a mailbox, do you pick up the mail every day or do you let it build up? If I deliver an apartment building and the mail builds up over the course of the week, that's 95% of the time somebody that skipped out on the rent.(IMHE, of course) In that case, you bring the mail back and hold it for ten days, waiting for a change of address.

Not trying to be snotty, just trying to troubleshoot the issue without any first hand knowledge.

And two reasons why Amazon uses the USPS, a: we are cheaper and b: we have a greater capacity than UPS does by far.

Thanks for the info, and you don't sound snotty at all!

As far as the non-delivery period for me, it just happened out of the blue. I live in a house with a mailbox and leave a small basket for packages; I pick it up every day. I hadn't had issues prior to that, nor did I do a vacation hold or anything else. At first I thought it was my imagination but soon it became obvious my mail (ALL mail, not just packages) was simply not being delivered, and it seemed like I was being singled out on the street. When I finally got it resolved (took around a month IIRC) I found out there was a big pile of mail that had accumulated and was sitting at the post office. It hasn't happened again so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.